How It Could Have Been
by inecstacy
Summary: What would have happened if Merope Gaunt did not die after giving birth to Tom? What would have happened if Tom Riddle Jr. grew up with a loving mother and perhaps even a family? Would You-Know-Who and subsequently the wizarding world ever be the same?
1. Chapter 1

**_ Disclaimer: I don't own HP and any of it's characters. _**

Merope Gaunt stumbled down the lonely dark alleyway, her hands wrapped around her ever-growing stomach. The streets of London were dark and gloomy, and Merope slumped over a wall from exhaustion. She cuddled herself, holding her legs close to her.

"We're all alone, Tom," she whispered sorrowfully to her stomach. "I thought he loved me."

There was silence and there was no movement apart from a small kick from the fetus in her belly.

"Looks like I was wrong, wasn't I, Tom?" A lone, solitary tear rolled down her dirt stained cheek. "Now I've deprived you of a father, and I of a husband."

Her stomach rumbled.

"I'm so hungry, Tom," she sobbed. "My magic can't work anymore, it won't work." She lifted her grimy hand that contained a simple wand.

A grubby man stumbled down the alleyway, teetering towards the expectant girl.

"Hello, girlie," he slurred as he looked her up and down. Merope squirmed uncomfortably. "You been crying?" He asked her.

"Um, no sir. No," she wiped her eyes and struggled to get on her feet.

The man chuckled, stroking her cheek. "You're a lost sheep, my child, and I am your shepherd." Merope struggled against him but he held her down. He pressed her mouth shut and she desperately kicked him away.

In the dead of the night, there was a piercing scream.

"Oi, stop that!" A man's voice rung through the dreary alleyway.

The drunken man looked up. "Its n-n-none of you're b-business," he garbled.

The man looked to Merope who was sobbing and clutching her stomach. He walked bravely up to the man and shoved him aside.

"Are you alright? My name's Jake." He asked Merope, who stayed silent. "Lady?"

Merope whispered softly and he leaned in to hear what she was saying.

"Get me out of here, please. Get me out," she breathed in his ear. He nodded. He then leaned in and scooped her into his strong arms.

"W-w-where are you going?" The man stumbled forward. He tried to grab Merope back. "S-She's mine."

Jake stared menacingly down at the drunken man. "Back off, or I'll make you sorry."

The drunken man stumbled backwards and leaned towards a wall. Jake carried Merope and carried her out of the alleyway.

"We need to get you into a hospital," he said to Merope, clutching her in his arms.

She shook her head. "No. No hospital."

"You need it."

She shook her head again. "No."

Jake sighed and brought her closer to him. "Alright, my house it is then. It's just around the corner from here." He started jogging towards his house.

Merope opened her eyes and looked at her rescuer. He had messy blond hair and sad gray eyes. He had a kind face, though. She supposed that he was good looking, but nothing on Tom. She shut her eyes. She was exhausted.

Jake had finally reached his house. He looked down at Merope who was sleeping limply in his arms. He sprinted up the stairs to his doorway and rang the bell.

An elderly lady opened the door. "Jake? Who's that?"

"It's just a girl who needed some help. Get the guest room ready and call the other maids to help get her clean and fed."

She nodded. "Yes, sir." She whistled loudly and ten or so maids rushed next to her. She whispered the instructions to the other maids and two of them stepped up and Jake passed Merope to them.

"Take care of her, alright?" He murmured to the head maid.

She nodded. "Of course sir, I'll try my best."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer – I don't own HP and any of its characters.**_

Merope Gaunt awoke in a large room, with many women bustling around her. She felt her hand move up to her face to rub her eyes, and she saw that her hands, her nails, her body was clean. She looked at herself in disbelief.

"E-Excuse me?" Merope asked a large, motherly looking lady who had a tray of eggs, bacon and toast. "Where am I?"

The lady placed the tray on Merope's lap. "Ah, dear. You're at the Crux Mansion. Our young master brought you here. His name is Jake." She noticed Merope staring hungrily at the plate.

"I-Is this for me?" She asked timidly.

The woman nodded. "Yes, miss. Eat up." 

It was as if a change had come over the fearful Merope. She launched straight into the plate, ravenously consuming all of it in a matter of seconds.

"Goodness me! You look like you've been starved!" The woman said, shock evident in her voice.

Merope gave a weak smile. "T-Thank you for your hospitality."

The lady chuckled. "Oh, it wasn't me that saved you. No need to thank me," she looked at the lank, petite girl. Her hair was a mousy brown and she had a pale and pallid complexion.

"Might I ask what be your name, miss?" The lady asked Merope.

Merope cautiously nodded. "Merope. Merope Ridd-" Suddenly Merope stopped. "Merope Gaunt. Merope Gaunt is my name."

The lady nodded. "Merope, what an unusual name. You can call me Joan." She glanced at her watch. "Oh my, look at the time! I should be getting on with my work. My young master will be visiting you shortly."

Merope looked away. "I-I hope that I am not troubling you."

Joan shook her head. "No, of course not." Joan quickly departed the room and with her, the many maids left too. A few minutes later, there were a few soft knocks on the door.

"Excuse me, miss?" Merope heard a voice. She thought his voice sounded kind and gentle. Nothing that compared to the haughty tones of Tom's voice though. "Can I come in?" 

"Yes, you may," Merope said shyly. The door opened and revealed a handsome man, with messy blond hair and beautiful gray eyes. He was probably only in his early twenties and he had a slim, lean build. He was dressed in a loose blue shirt and jeans.

He smiled. "How are you feeling?"

She smiled feebly. "Fine, thank you," she paused, "thank you for the help yesterday. I don't know how I would have survived otherwise." There was another pause as she looked down at her stomach. "Me and him both."

Jake smiled gently at her. "I am glad that I was able to help."

"I-I should be going soon," she said weakly. "I wouldn't want to intrude."

"No, no. You're not intruding at all!" He said, protesting. "Do you have anywhere to go after you leave? It is not safe for an expectant mother to be wandering out on the street."

Merope looked away. "Uh, yes, I do have somewhere to go…" She lied unconvincingly.

Jake laughed a throaty laugh. "You're horrible at lying, you know that?"

"W-What?" Merope looked at him. "I-I wasn't lying."

Jake smiled serenely at her. "I hope you will stay until you get better. For you and your baby."

Merope started protesting. "I-I can't intrude like this!"

Jake laughed again. "Stay until the baby is born. That can only be about another month right? Please? Do it as a favour to me."

Merope sighed. How could she refuse the man who had saved her life?

"A-Alright. But I-I want to work t-to make up for the intrusion."

Jake was about to refuse when suddenly Merope gave him a steely glare, one that he didn't know could come out from the frail girl.

"I-If you don't allow me to, I-I shall leave." She threatened.

Jake chuckled. "I like your attempts at being menacing," he laughed.

Merope seemed thrown off guard. "So do we have a deal?"

Jake pondered for a second. "Deal."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer – I do not own HP or any of its characters. **_

So it was thusly that Merope started living at the Crux Mansion. She awoke every morning at seven am, to the violent protests of Jake, who insisted that she sleep till ten am. However, she suppressed his exclamations and continued to wake at seven am. She would get up and help the maids prepare breakfast. Then, she would help clean the house, though the maids relieved her of any work they declared to be too strenuous for an expectant mother to do. Doing work with the maids helped Merope to bond with these ladies, especially with Joan, which she found a motherly figure. Something she had never had. Even so, that stutter that she had never receded. The maids had asked her about that and Merope had merely shrugged. It seemed like she had always had a stutter. She remembered her brother and her father's cruel laughter as they mocked her stutter.

However, it seemed like as her tummy got bigger, the maids seemed to relieve her of more and more work, much to her chagrin. Despite that, she still seemed to manage to keep herself busy with work in the day and dinner in the night. Jake had insisted that she accompany him for dinner each night as he claimed to have grown lonely in the mansion with no one to talk to. And it was like this that Merope filled out the last month until childbirth.

That day started out like any other. It was sunnier than usual. It was nice and cheery. Merope smiled to herself as she contemplated what to do. All that work made her happy. Kept her hands busy. Stopped her from thinking about Tom. Even though he had abandoned her, she still found herself thinking about him every second of the day, wistfully dreaming about him. Dreaming that he was looking for her, even though she knew he wasn't.

She entered the kitchen, where she picked up a pan and two eggs. She wondered if Jake and the other maids would like bacon and eggs today. Suddenly, she felt the pan and eggs get snatched away from her.

"H-Hey!" Merope exclaimed as the maids took it away from her.

Joan tutted. "No cooking for you!"

Merope sighed. "J-Joan, I-I'm fine."

"No, your tummy is getting bigger by the day!" Joan said, rubbing Merope's tummy. "Even if I did think you were fine, Jake would kill me if he found out I was making you work in this condition!"

Merope laughed. "Jake doesn't know what he is talking about. I am fine."

"Even so, I forbid you to cook."

With those final words, Merope reluctantly relinquished the pan and the eggs.

"Fine. I shall be in the hall."

"Good girl."

Merope dragged her feet to the hall. There, she saw buckets and mops; the maids had set the cleaning equipment up, ready to start work after breakfast. Merope smiled to herself as she picked up a mop. She was determined to contribute to the house and work for her keep. Back and forth and back and forth. She was getting into the routine of mopping when suddenly; she felt water trickle down her leg. Did she spill something?

Suddenly she screamed. The maids rushed in. They all stood there in silence as they stared at her, almost like they were in shock.

"Her water's broke! Her water's broke!" Joan screamed. "Send for Jake, send for the midwife!"

There was a small moan from Merope.

"Are you okay, dearie?" Joan struggled to keep her voice calm, as to not frighten Merope.

Merope tried to smile but she clutched her tummy again. "I-It's just a-a tummy ache."

"Her contractions are starting."

Jake rushed into the room. "What happened?"

"She's in labour." 

"WHAT?"

A huge commotion started as the maids rushed around her and Joan tried to calm Jake down. He was in shock and started mumbling nonsensical words.

"Calm yourself, Jake!"

There was another moan from Merope. "H-Help."

Jake stopped in his tracks and leaned down towards Merope. "How are you feeling? One of the maids have just went off to get the midwife."

"I-I'm okay." Merope said feebly. "I-I'm a bit s-scared."

Jake looked down at Merope, with her dark hair that had sweat beads running through them and with her beautiful chocolate dark eyes filled with pain.

"Don't worry. It'll be alright."

Merope was in childbirth for a surprisingly short amount of time. The maids joked that the child must have been so anxious to see the world. Jake and Joan paced relentlessly outside the room as they heard screams of agony from Merope following the midwife's pleas to "push". After what seemed like eons, the midwife emerged.

"It's a boy." The midwife said. "The child is healthy, the woman will need some rest."

"Can we see them now?"

"Yes, go right ahead."

Jake, Joan and the maids slowly and quietly entered the room where an exhausted Merope lay. She was barely awake but she had a satisfied smile on her face. In her hands, she held her baby. He had large dark eyes and a tuft of dark hair on his head.

"He's gorgeous," Joan whispered to Merope. "What's his name?"

"He looks like his papa. His name is Tom Riddle." Merope stroked his hair. "Tom Riddle Junior."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer – I don't own HP and any of its characters. **_

The midwife confined Merope to the bed for another week, with Jake and Joan firmly enforcing her confinement. Merope insisted on keeping Tom with her, on holding him, brushing him, feeding him and all the other things associated with having a baby. Jake saw that she loved the child, her brown eyes sparkling when she saw the boy. Her usually plain face lit up when she saw her child, and that aura of sadness that surrounded her subsided.

But that was not to say she was not sad. Though she loved the child dearly, more than life itself, his hair and his eyes and most of his outer appearance looked so much like the man he was named after. She had never thought that it was possible for something to make her so glad yet make her heart ache at the same time. Another frightening thing that Merope had noticed since the birth of Tom was that she was beginning to feel that she needed to record what was happening. She did not want to forget about this experience, about her love for Tom. Merope was afraid. She was afraid that the happiness that she was feeling would disappear, like much of the other brief spells of joy that she had never went through.

She had heard about these things that the Muggles kept. Diaries, they were called. They wrote in a book about all that was happening, what they were feeling, and they would look back on it and remember all of it. It was a useful way to remember things they didn't want to forget. Merope had dearly wanted to keep a diary too, to help her remember, but… she knew not how to write.

Her father had not thought it useful, or even if he had, he would not have wanted to teach it to his useless Squib of a daughter. Her father had been a cruel man, and her brother no different, but she loved them. She hoped to bring Tom to see his grandfather and uncle someday, but she knew they would be furious. It hurt her to think that Tom would never know them.

"Merope?" The warm voice of Jake interrupted her from her thoughts.

She looked up and smiled shyly. "Y-Yes?"

"Are you feeling better now?" He asked, taking a seat next to her bed.

She nodded slowly. "Y-Yes, lots better. I-I will be able to leave soon."

"Leave?"

The corners of her mouth twitched. "Y-Yes, Tom and I-I will be l-leaving. T-That was the agreement, n-no?"

"Yes, it was… But…" Jake hesitated.

Merope gave a small smile. "I-I won't intrude for m-m-much longer."

Jake sighed. "The house will be a lot emptier without you."

Merope laughed timidly. "E-E-Everything would be m-much more c-convenient with me g-gone."

"Do you even have anywhere to go after leaving here?"

Merope hesitated. "U-U-Uh… Y-Yes."

Jake laughed again. "You're a horrible liar, Merope." He turned serious again. "Tom is still a young infant, and a child like him needs a home."

Merope hesitated and bit her lip.

"How about you help Joan out around the house and you will be paid with housing, food and the like?" Jake suggested.

Merope thought. Jake saw that she was still unsure.

"Joan is getting on in the years, you know this as well as I." Jake said, and saw Merope give a tiny nod. 

"She needs someone to help her, and I think you would be perfect for the job."

Merope just needed one tiny push to get caught in the trap.

"Please? As a favour to me."

Merope sighed to herself in exasperation. He used this plea all the time. Jake smiled to himself. Merope had to agree now.

"Fine."

Jake smiled, his eyes glinting in merriment.

So it was in that way that Merope Gaunt, descendent of Salazar Slytherin, came into the service of the people that her ancestors had despised.


End file.
